No. 24 Ohio State Improves to 8-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 23, 2005
Box Score | Quotes | Notes
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Je’Kel Foster continued on his scoring tear with 19 points and No. 24 Ohio State rallied down the stretch to beat Tennessee State 74-65 on Friday night.
Terence Dials also scored 19 points for the Buckeyes (8-0), who jumped into the Top 25 this week for the first time in almost four years. Jamar Butler added 10 points and seven assists.
Foster was the Big Ten’s player of the week last week, averaging 18 points in three victories while shooting 63 percent from the field and 58 percent behind the arc.
Wayne Arnold was 7-of-8 from 3-point range and scored 23 points for the Tigers (2-4), while Bruce Price had 14 points and seven assists and Reiley Ervin added 12 points.
The Buckeyes, 8-0 for the first time in 15 years, trailed 55-52 with 10:43 left after Tennessee State’s Kareem Grant scored inside off an assist from Price. But the Tigers didn’t score again for the next 7 1/2 minutes.
Foster hit a jumper and then tossed a lob pass inside to Dials for a layup to give the Buckeyes the lead for good at 56-55 with 9:10 left. Dials then hit a free throw, Ron Lewis made two, Foster hit one and Lewis another before Butler scored off a backdoor pass from Foster and Foster then hit a baseline drive to make it 65-55.
Tennessee State, which missed nine shots from the field and two free throws during its drought, finally broke through on Ervin’s 3-pointer at the 3:17 mark. The Tigers never got closer than five points again.
The Tigers were 13-of-28 on 3-pointers but were overwhelmed by a lopsided free throw difference. Preferring to stay on the perimeter on offense, they were 4-of-6 from the line to Ohio State’s 20-of-25.
Larry Turner had six points and seven rebounds in only his second game for the Tigers since becoming eligible after transferring from Oklahoma.
Ohio State led 42-31 after Dials scored inside on the second trip down the floor in the second half. Tennessee State, which went on a 11-0 run to lead by as many as 10 points in the first half, responded with consecutive 3-pointers by Arnold and Price.
Down 47-39, the Tigers scored 12 of the next 17 points to pull even at 51 on Arnold’s 3-pointer. Price then hit two free throws with 11:54 left after a technical foul on Ohio State’s J.J. Sullinger for slapping the backboard. They were the Tigers’ first free throws of the game.
Ohio State finished 6-of-19 on 3-pointers, ending a school-record streak of four consecutive games with at least 10 3s.
